Sins of the Father
by GhostWriter25
Summary: Daniel's attempt to exchange knowledge with another off world leads to drastic circumstances. COMPLETE.
1. Default Chapter

Warnings: Child neglect and abuse not graphically depicted. I do not believe my stories can create deep emotional responses, but I have been told in the past that a hanky warning would have been nice. So, here it is just in case…hanky warning.

Beta: No beta, no nada.

Spoilers: Meridian

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of SG1. I just take them out to play once in a while.

Author's notes: After season 7's "Lifeboat" I saw a potential for a "little Danny" fic with a "big" twist.

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Part One-

Waking up in a hospital bed was oddly not as disturbing as not being able to see clearly about the room he was in. Daniel Jackson blinked several times and squinted to try and make out the face of the figure standing a few feet from the bed. The flesh colored mass with the salt and pepper colored top, which he assumed was the head, turned toward him. "Hello." 

The tone of the voice was singsong and pleasant. It had been a long time since anyone had talked to him that way and it made Daniel instantly at ease.

"Hello." Daniel said back at the source of the voice.

Jack O'Neill moved closer to the bed looking down at the prone form of his team mate and best friend. He pondered this man who had scared the living daylights out of him and the rest of the team when he passed out cold in the temple on P3X-458.

Jack turned toward the nurse sitting at the table in the corner. "Could you get Dr. Fraiser, please?"

"Yes, Colonel." The nurse nodded moving quickly out of the room.

"So," Jack turned his attention back to Daniel. "What happened?"

Daniel was not sure why, but he did not feel he needed to be defensive or cautious about what he said to this man. It was true; in the recent past, that he had been chastised and even physically punished for things he had said. But this man seemed to be genuinely concerned.

"I don't know." Daniel replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Did I get hurt again?"

"Well," Jack began. "I think that's what I'm asking you."

"Good to see you awake, Dr. Jackson." Doctor Janet Fraiser came in and began to shine a penlight in her patient's eyes.

Daniel frowned and instantly tensed when he heard the doctor call him Dr. Jackson. "Why did you call me by my daddy's name?"

Janet pulled back, dropping her hands to her sides. She curiously eyed Dr. Jackson and then looked questioningly at Colonel O'Neill, who could only raise his eyebrows in equal confusion.

"Daniel," Fraiser began as she looked at Jackson with a warm smile. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yes." Daniel answered. "You're Dr. Fraiser."

"That's right. Do you know who this is?" The doctor asked, pointing a thumb at O'Neill.

Daniel glanced at Jack shyly and then shook his head.

"How do you know who I am, then?" Janet queried.

"He asked the nurse to get Dr. Fraiser." Daniel answered. "It wasn't that hard to figure out you were you."

The giggle that followed that statement made the hairs on the back of Jack's neck bristle. Something was not right and he was beginning to feel creepy.

"How do you feel?" Janet asked with cautious concern.

"Um," Daniel rubbed his forehead. "I sort of have a little headache. But a couple of baby aspirin will take care of it. Honest."

Janet turned to glance back at the colonel who appeared to be just as stunned as she was. "How old are you, Daniel?" Janet asked.

"Ten last month." Daniel answered. "But I didn't get a party or a cake. No presents either, 'cause they said I didn't deserve them."

Jack shook his head when Janet looked to him for some help. This was up Carter's alley, he thought. Hell, it was up Daniel's too. Well, the Daniel that went to college and had all those degrees, anyway.

Daniel suddenly remembered he was in a hospital and that meant he was probably hurt in some way. He just did not feel any pain or aches. He lifted up the covers and peeked underneath.

"Did I fall again?" Daniel's voice was small and frightened.

"Fall again?" Janet countered.

"Well, yeah." Daniel played with the sheet, twisting it up between his fingers. "Like last time I was in the hospital. Am I going back to the Scotts'?"

"No, Daniel." Janet patted his shoulder reassuringly. "You're not going back to the Scotts', ever."

Jack's heart melted at the smile that covered Daniel's face. He had the feeling the archaeologist was going to start bawling if Janet had said yes. But Doc Fraiser had answered quickly and, damned if he could figure out why, all too quickly. Jack felt as though he had just flipped channels and gotten into the middle of a made-for-TV-movie. He crooked his head off to the side and Janet followed him.

Daniel watched Dr. Fraiser and the nice man as they talked. He could not hear what they were saying, but he knew they were talking about him. He was just glad he did not have to go back to the Scotts' house. He never liked it there and Mr. Scott hated him, he knew. Maybe that was who this man was. It must be, he thought.

"Are you sure," Fraiser whispered. "Daniel didn't hit his head?"

"I'm not really sure of anything, Doc." Jack's voice was stressed. "We let him go with those little monkish guys into the temple to 'exchange the knowledge of self'. They were going to read walls, I thought."

"And then you said about an hour later the monks came out carrying Daniel." Janet prodded.

"Yeah," Jack's shoulders shook at the memory. "Like Gulliver and the Lilliputians. They said they thought the knowledge was too much for him and he keeled over. We headed for the gate."

"I think you better tell General Hammond, Sam and Teal'c what's happened." Janet sighed, thinking deeply. "I'll prepare for some more tests on Daniel."

"Doc," Jack began then held his thought. "Who are the Scotts'?"

"Colonel," Janet curled her bottom lip under. "I think that can wait. Trust me on this, you don't want to know."

"If I didn't want to know, Doc," Jack protested. "I wouldn't have…" It was the narrowing of the eyes that made Colonel Jack O'Neill, former Special Ops, cease to insist his position. Janet Fraiser was in control here.

A little flutter of anticipation in his tummy made Daniel squirm under the sheets. But he knew better than to be rude and interrupt, so Daniel waited until the two adults came back to his bedside. Once they had, he sat up to get a better look at the man.

"I know who you are." Daniel told Jack.

"You do?" Jack asked hopefully.

"Uh-huh." Daniel nodded. "You're my new foster father."

"I'm Jack O'Neill." Jack answered, rather uncomfortably.

"Colonel." Daniel corrected.

"Yes, that's right." Jack agreed.

"Well," Janet leaned down toward the patient. "I have to run some extra tests, Daniel."

"And I better get to the others." Jack spoke up as he started to move off.

"You're not staying with me?" Daniel called out.

"Do you want him to?" The doctor smiled warmly.

Daniel nodded and looked away. Janet smiled as Jack came back to the bedside. It was nice to see some things remained the same. The adult Daniel always was a good patient, but he seemed more at ease when Jack was near.

"I'll go talk to them and then get the tests ready." Janet patted Jack's shoulder and then added. "If all the tests come back that there are no physical abnormalities, then he doesn't have to stay here."

"Great." But there was hardly any real excitement in Jack's voice.

Daniel watched Fraiser leave and then turned his head to regard the colonel. "Where's your wife?"

Jack cleared his throat and shifted on his feet, pivoting around. He grabbed a chair and wheeled it up to the side of the bed.

"I'm divorced, Daniel."

"Why does everyone call me Daniel?" He sighed in annoyance. "It sounds like everyone's mad at me all the time."

"Okay, then." Jack relented. "I don't have a wife, Danny."

"Oh," Danny scrunched up his nose. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well so was I." Jack began to straighten the bed sheet.

"They never placed me with a single person before." Danny mused. "They've all been couples."

"All?" Jack's mind was rewinding at full speed. He remembered that Daniel had been orphaned around eight years of age. That would mean that in just two years he had already been in multiple foster homes. That was not only disturbing, but sad. "How many foster homes have you been in?"

"Um," Danny looked up at the ceiling and held up his hand. He started counting out on his fingers and said, "First there were the Bradys. They were just like the television show. Well, not exactly. They had four boys and then me. There were too many kids. The other guys had been with them for years and they were all into sports and stuff. I didn't fit in."

"How long did you stay?"

"Mmm, six months." Then Danny looked at the ceiling again. "Then there were the Connors. I liked them a lot." He looked down at his hands and began to play with his fingers. "I thought I was going to stay there forever."

"What happened?" Jack lowered his head to see if he could get Danny's attention. "Did they send you back, too?"

"Oh, they wanted me!" Danny's head shot up and he stared at Jack. "Well, at first anyway. I mean Mr. Connors was a professor of World History at a university. And Mrs. Connors was a first grade school teacher. I was their first foster kid. She used to let me go to school with her when I had a no school day and I'd help her out in class. And one time Mr. Connors even took me to the university! That was way cool!"

Danny fell silent and began to frown. He dropped his gaze and began to fiddle with his fingers again.

"That sounds like it was fun, huh?" Jack was torn between prying into a part of his best friend's life that had been all but kept from him and wanting to know more. "So, how long were you with them?"

"Eleven months," Danny shifted and then pushed the covers off. "Almost a whole year. But she got pregnant. I was hoping they'd want to keep me after the baby was born and I really think they would've. But she got real sick and the doctor told her she had to be in bed or hospitalized. That's when Mr. Connors told me I had to go back to the group home."

"Bummer," was all Jack could say. It truly was a downer that the kid had been shuffled around because adults had their fill or could not seem to embrace that he was different. Hell, the colonel himself had grown to adjust to life with Daniel. It had not been easy by any means, but he did accomplish that. He did so because Daniel was worth it.

"Here we are." Dr. Fraiser came in followed by General George Hammond, Major Samantha Carter and Teal'c.

Danny snatched up the sheets and pulled them up over himself. There was a lady with them and he did not want her to see him in his hospital gown. Dr. Fraiser was a lady too, but she was a doctor lady. That was different.

"Daniel."

"Danny." Jack interrupted Janet.

"Oh," Janet smiled at Danny. "Okay. Danny, this is General Hammond, Major Carter and Teal'c."

Danny looked from one new person to the other as they were introduced. When he tried to focus on the man named Teal'c his eyes widened slightly. The big man had a golden symbol embedded in his forehead. Body ornaments were told to him in tales from people that he had known when he lived in Egypt with his parents. But they were never described in this way. The man's name, Teal'c, did sound like a name from a past civilization, though.

Jack noticed Danny's fascination with Teal'c and his newly regressed friend trying his damnedest to see the other man. Realizing how thoughtless they had been, Jack grabbed Danny's glasses from the jacket that hung on the rack behind him.

Danny reflectively jerked his head back as a hand was thrust in front of his face. He looked up to see it was the colonel's holding a pair of glasses. Relieved, he accepted them and once they were on his face he was better able to see everyone.

"How do you do?" Danny stammered.

"Just fine." Hammond smiled. "And Dr. Fraiser tells us she has to conduct some tests and then you might be able to leave with Colonel O'Neill. Would you like that?"

"Yes, sir, general, sir." Danny nodded. "But am I in trouble?"

"No, son." Hammond assured him. "I know you might think that with us being military, but no. You have done nothing wrong and you are not going to be harmed."

Dr. Daniel Jackson's case file had been available, for the most part, to Colonel O'Neill. However, there were areas that only Hammond and Dr. Fraiser had been privy to. One such area had to do with the few incidents during the time Daniel had stayed in the home of Robert and Karen Scott. The general was sure that Fraiser was on the same wavelength in trying to assure Daniel; Danny that he was safe.

Danny stared back at the older man and saw a kindness in his eyes that he easily accepted. He smiled and nodded that he understood.

"Well," Janet turned to the newly arrived three. "We need to get these tests done and then we can talk some more, General."

"Very well, doctor." Hammond placed his hands on Teal'c and Carter's shoulders. "Let us leave the doctor to her work."

"Good-bye, Danny." The one named Samantha Carter said.

"Good-bye, Major." Danny smiled back. "You have pretty eyes."

Sam's aforementioned pretty eyes widened in embarrassment as the others, save for Teal'c, clearly were amused.

"Well, thank you." Sam pinched Danny's toes beneath the sheets. "You're quite a little charmer, aren't you?"

Danny giggled and moved his foot aside. "That's what my mommy always says. Said…" His voice drifted off and his face became sullen.

"We'll talk later." Hammond directed to O'Neill as he ushered Carter and Teal'c out of the room.

"Now, are you ready?" The doctor looked hopefully at Danny.

"I guess so." Danny answered, but his attention was on the man he felt most protected by.

"Piece of cake, Danny-boy." Jack waved his hands at him. "I'll be right there the whole time."

Danny smiled and looked back at the doctor. "Then I'm sure I'm ready, doctor."

End Part One


	2. Part Two

Part Two-

Jack looked over at the sleeping Daniel Jackson. Danny, he mentally corrected himself yet again. No sooner had they gotten into the truck then Danny had been lulled to sleep by the motion.

There was a part of Jack that was glad Janet let him take Danny out of the SGC and bring him home where he would not feel so confined. But then there was the part of him that worried about how the investigation into how this happened was going. He knew Carter would contact him as soon as there was anything concrete to report, but that was only a small bit of consolation.

The investigation meant that Carter and Teal'c, accompanied by two other assigned personnel, had to go back through the gate and confront the monks about what happened in the temple. None of them had any feelings that this, whatever this was, had been done maliciously. It seemed to them the monks were just as baffled by Daniel's passing out as they were.

Janet had said as far as she could tell it appeared that Daniel's memory was wiped from the point he was now, at age ten, forward. She could not explain it medically for there was no physical evidence. And although Danny was still in a full-grown man's body, he did not see the dimensions. To Daniel he was ten year old Danny Jackson.

The truck pulled up into the driveway and Jack decided to get out and walk around to the passenger side. He opened the door and paused a moment as he watched Danny sleeping with his head back against the seat and his lips parted slightly. He had sounded a bit stuffy when they chatted on their way to the truck, so Jack was glad Janet had given him Danny's prescription antihistamines.

"Hey," Jack called out as he placed a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Wake up, Danny-boy."

Danny mumbled and then began to open his eyes. Before they were opened fully he sat upright quickly and turned toward Jack.

"Easy, big guy." Jack smiled at his friend.

"Oh," Danny replied in recognition stretching his back and yawning. "I fell asleep?"

"Yep." Jack confirmed. "I think before we even got out onto the highway."

Danny looked around noticing the sun was almost gone, yet he could not really remember the day, except for the morning. He rubbed his eyes under his glasses and then settled them on Jack.

"Where are we?"

"My place." Jack said holding out a hand toward the house.

"Naw," Danny giggled. "I mean maybe upstate New York?"

"Oh, no." Jack shook his head. "Colorado."

At Danny's frown and signs that he was becoming uneasy Jack knew this had to be scary for the kid inside the man's body. He probably woke up that morning in his mind in New York. So, the gruff and sometimes surly Air Force colonel gently took his friend by the hand.

"It's okay, Danny." Jack assured the man-child. "Come on. Let's get inside. It's kinda chilly out here."

Danny slid out of the truck and let Jack lead him to the front porch. Jack let go of his hand and fiddled with his keys.

"You hungry?" Jack asked. "Or do you just want to hit the sack?"

The door opened and Danny followed Jack inside. He wondered why his tummy was not growling. He remembered he had eaten breakfast at school last, but now he was not so sure when that was.

"Do I have to go to bed if I don't want to eat?" Danny asked as he passed Jack and stepped down into the living room giving it a thorough once over.

"No, I guess not." Jack shrugged.

"Okay, then no." Danny replied as he plopped on the sofa. "I'm not hungry and I'm not sleepy. So, can I watch television?"

"Sure." Jack said. "Remote's on the coffee table. There's a hundred plus channels. Knock yourself out. I'm going to grab a sandwich and a beer."

Danny clicked on the TV and then heard Jack rustling around in the kitchen. He had caught the last word Jack had said, but decided not to dwell on it. So, the man liked a beer with his sandwich. It didn't mean that he drank like Mr. Scott. Besides, Jack was nice when he wasn't drinking. Mr. Scott was always mean.

"Find anything interesting?" Jack called out.

"You have a channel called History?" Danny practically squealed.

Jack came around and leaned up against the wall of the foyer. He took a swig from his beer and suppressed a smile so as not to dribble. "Thought that might grab you."

Danny looked over at Jack and then his eyes shifted to the beer. "Aren't you going to eat?"

Jack noted a tone of warning, or was it caution, in Danny's voice? "Yeah, sure."

Danny put the remote back down on the table and followed Jack toward the kitchen. He thought he would just make sure the colonel ate something. But as he was passing the wall he saw a picture hanging there. It was of Jack, a woman and a boy.

"Is he with his mom?" Danny asked quietly.

"What?" Jack asked from the table where he sat making his sandwich.

Danny came into the kitchen now and pulled out a chair across from Jack.

"That picture." Danny nodded his head toward the wall. "Is that your son? Is he with his mom?"

Jack froze. What would be best for him would be to pass off that question. What would be best for Danny would be the truth. And, after all, hadn't it always been about what's best for Daniel ever since he returned from Abydos? He slowly put down the knife he was holding and looked up at Danny.

"Yes, Danny." Jack said. "The picture is of my son. And no he is not with his mother. Charlie died in an accident years ago."

"So, did my parents!" Danny exclaimed with wide eyes and a mouth opened just as much.

"Yeah," Jack nodded. "Life is like that sometimes."

"Is that why you wanted me?" Danny asked innocently.

"Huh?" Jack did not see that coming.

"Maybe so you won't miss him anymore?" Danny asked.

This kid was something. Well, not a kid really, but whatever. This was so not where Jack expected nor wanted the conversation to go. There had always been a gray area in his and Daniel's friendship that both were aware but neither ever spoke of.

"Danny," Jack began. "I don't know how to explain this to you. But I…"

All right, O'Neill, Jack thought. What was he going to tell the kid? That he did not want him like this? Daniel had always seemed, for all his knowledge and scholastic achievements, to be a lost child. Jack had reconciled years ago that he had first looked upon Daniel Jackson as a substitute son. He had become overprotective of the archaeologist from the start, but it took a while for him to admit to himself the real reason why.

"Even if you don't stay with me," Jack continued. "I want you to take something neat, something really cool with you where ever you end up. Fun times, memories that make you all tingly inside."

"I like you a lot, Jack." Danny told him. "But if I don't stay with you, then it's because you don't want me anymore. That's what usually happens and then all the good stuff just hurts to remember. But it's okay if you want me around only so you don't miss Charlie. If I know that it will make leaving a little easier…"

"Ah, ah!" Jack hated how that brain of Jackson's over thought everything he said to him. Daniel, Danny it didn't matter, they were both the same. "That's not what I meant. I will not send you away. But there may be some reason we both have no control over that will take you from me."

"Death?"

There were those damn hairs bristling away making Jack rub the back of his neck. Why would any higher being allow a child of ten to be able to reason in their mind the finality of death as being the only way people are separated?

"Not exclusively." Jack replied.

"General Hammond?" Danny asked matter-of-factly.

"Possibly." It was the truth. But in all fairness to the general it would be unanimously considered the best thing for Danny. "Let me try and explain this better. I never wanted to," Jack sighed trying to find the words to explain history, their history. He knew now that why he brought Danny home from the SGC tonight was the same reason he brought Daniel home with him seven years ago after returning from the second Abydos mission. "I never _want_ to replace Charlie. But you seemed to me to need taking care of and I, surprising to me, needed at the time to be needed. Am I making any sense to you?"

Danny's head bobbed up and down. He hoped that this man could learn to care about him like a real son someday. But even if that never happened, he would settle for just being with someone who cared at all.

"People throughout history have always needed each other. That's what Mommy always told me. And Daddy said no matter what culture they studied, they always found that was true."

"Smart folks." Jack sighed taking a swig of his beer.

"You don't want to talk about this, do you?" Danny surmised. "I shouldn't talk so much. I get into trouble a lot for that."

Jack noticed Danny had begun to pick at the lint on his sweatshirt. There was something going on inside that head of his. Well, something other than the fact that his friend who was a man when he woke up this morning was now a child.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Danny." Jack told him as he resumed making his sandwich. "You're just curious."

"Too much for my own good." Danny recited as if they were someone else's words. "Little Mr. Know It All."

"Who told you that, Danny?" Jack eyed his friend across the table. "The Scotts?"

Danny shifted in his seat and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. "Mr. Scott always said that before he punished me."

Now the hairs on his arms joined the hairs behind his neck in creeping him out. Jack raised the beer bottle and three big gulps painfully slid down his constricting throat.

"How long were you with them?" Jack's voice was low and controlled.

"Four months." Danny answered shyly. He was warned not to tell anyone about what went on in the Scotts' house. But since he didn't have to go back there, he decided it would be okay now. "But at least they gave me a bed, food and clothes. They didn't have to be nice to me. Some foster parents take the money and the kids get forgotten. Jimmy Crespi told me that when I was at the Bradys. Happened to him once when he was my age. He was 14 and he used to try and scare me with those stories at night. Said I could end up in a home like that 'cause I wouldn't last long there with them. I was not only a sissy, but a weirdo."

The beer in Jack's belly began to sour his stomach as realization settled on top of it. Daniel had just survived after his parents died. He never had a childhood, because he hadn't been living. He was surviving and existing in a world of temporary shelters.

"You're not looking for a replacement either." Jack was more or less thinking out loud. "But you also don't want someone to just provide food, clothes or a roof over your head, do you?"

Danny lowered his head and began to gnaw on his bottom lip. He knew he was different than other kids. His social worker told him right out after he had been sent back to the group home by the Bradys. But he didn't need her to tell him. He knew the day his grandfather Nick Ballard, his own flesh and blood, had turned his back on him and walked away leaving him in the care of total strangers.

"You don't have to love me." Danny said in a faint whisper. "Just like me a little bit."

The chair rocked backward and fell with a bang as Jack shot up from his chair and fled to the living room.

Danny glanced up at the uneaten sandwich and was well aware of the absent beer and colonel. He got up slowly and made his way to the living room.

Jack sat in his favorite chair, beer bottle in hand resting on the arm. He stared straight ahead at the sofa in front of him. He knew Danny was watching him from the bottom of the entryway stairs.

"Children should be loved simply because they _are_ children, Danny." Jack's husky voice quivered. "And once an adult gets to know them, they love them for _who_ they are as well."

"Some times they don't." Danny answered cautiously.

"If the kid's a brat, maybe." Jack answered, looking over at the man who was an innocent. "You're not a brat, Danny. Are you?"

Danny shook his head. "I'm different. I make people, adults and kids, nervous. Do I make you nervous, Jack?"

O'Neill let out a ragged breath and smiled. He could never explain to Danny just how nervous he made him at times. So, he settled for shaking his head no.

"Aren't you going to eat your sandwich?" Danny asked.

"Yeah." Jack rose from his chair and sauntered over to his friend and now charge. As they made their way into the kitchen, Jack asked, "Are you hungry, yet?"

"Yes." Danny confirmed.

"Grab a plate. Cupboard on the left." Jack pointed as he returned to his seat.

Danny retrieved a plate and sat down. He watched as Jack prepared another sandwich. First he applied the mustard only on one side of the bread, then salami, cheese and more salami. His breath caught in his throat as Danny was baffled by the correctness of the sandwich as it was placed in front of him.

"Something wrong?" Jack asked.

Danny looked up at Jack with wide, blue orbs that sparkled. "How'd you know that's the way I like my sandwiches?"

Jack's grin was warm as he realized just how much he really did dote on Daniel Jackson. "Just a lucky guess, Danny."

End Part Two


	3. Part Three

Part Three-

Jack turned over, his eyes focusing on the clock face display. 3:14AM. Danny had been in bed since about eleven thirty. While Jack was cleaning up the kitchen table the man-child had gone to shower and get ready for bed.

Rolling over onto his back, Jack stared up at the ceiling and wondered why he had been so freaked about tucking Danny in. Hell, he'd done it hundreds of times for Charlie. But then Danny was not Charlie, nor was he ten years old by sight. Still, that shouldn't have been a factor. Danny was a little boy that needed to feel safe and protected.

As Jack felt his bladder aching to be relieved he threw off the covers and headed down the hall. He had left the door to Danny's room cracked so he could hear if expected nightmares surfaced. Daniel had them often and Jack assumed little Danny was not spared.

Flipping on the hall light, Jack crept slowly and pushed open the door to Danny's room. What in the...?

The bed was empty, the blanket and pillow gone. Jack quickly retreated out into the living room, but no Danny on the sofa. Rushing back, Jack stopped just inside the door and took a quick sweep of the spare room. He spotted it then, the thin stream of light under the closet door.

Not even realizing he was actually worried, Jack let out a breath as he took hold of the doorknob. Before he could even begin to turn the knob he heard faint, muffled sobs on the other side of the door.

"Aw, Danny." Jack sighed to the closed door, pulling it open slowly and gazing down at a pitiful sight.

Nestled far back in between boxes and bags Danny clutched the pillow tightly against his mouth trying to quiet his sobs. He huddled under the blanket rocking back and forth, but stopped when he heard the door click and instinctively tried to back up further.

Jack knelt down making sure to keep his hands folded in front of him so as not to frighten the upset child.

"What are you doing in here, Danny?" Jack asked gently.

Danny raised his eyes and hiccuped. "Di-did I w-wake you?"

"No." Jack jerked his thumb backward. "Had to drain the main. I came by and thought I'd check up on you. Kind of scary first night in a strange place, huh?"

"I-I didn't want t-to wake you." Danny answered. "I had a bad d-dream. I didn't wake up y-yelling like I do mostly, but I was a-afraid I might next time."

"That's why I left the door cracked." Jack explained. "So, in case you needed me. I told you that, Danny."

"I didn't want to m-make you mad, Jack." Danny sniffled, wiping his nose on an edge of the blanket.

"Mad?" Jack found it hard to believe Danny could even think he would be mad at him for having nightmares. "Come on out of there."

Jack took hold of the blanket and tugged it off of Danny. The man-child followed the colonel while clutching his pillow to his chest. Once Danny had settled back into bed, Jack sat down next to him.

"Did the Scotts' get mad at you for having nightmares?" Jack asked in disbelief.

Danny nodded. "Mr. Scott did. I slept in a room with two other little kids. When I'd have my nightmares, I'd wake them up and they'd start crying. The first time Mr. Scott grabbed my blanket and pillow and made me follow him downstairs. He locked me in the closet underneath the stairs. I climbed on a box to reach the chain and turned on the light. I fell asleep and when he came in the morning to let me out, he got mad 'cause I left the light on all night. Next time he took the bulb out."

Jack closed his eyes and checked his emotions. He was certifiably homicidal at the knowledge that some sonofabitch had bullied Danny that way. He would not refer to Scott as a man, because in Jack O'Neill's book no man would do to a child what was done to Danny. Only a coward was capable of being so cruel. It suddenly dawned on Jack just how Daniel was able to stand up and battle the Goa'uld System Lords. The kid had dealt with their kind at times in foster care.

"Danny, I would not be angry at you for having nightmares." Jack explained. "I don't care if you wake me up. I want you to wake me up. Got that?"

Danny wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and nodded. He looked up at Jack with tired eyes that belied his years. That is, his inner self's years.

"Want to tell me about it?" Jack smiled slightly.

"I guess." Danny shifted and pulled the covers up to his chin. "It wasn't one I had before."

"A new one?" Jack was slightly concerned. He had hoped this sudden change in the ten-year-old boy's surroundings and life, as he had known it, hadn't caused this newest nightmare.

"Uh-huh." Danny nodded. "It was a lady. She was all in white. I could only see her face. She scared me."

Jack listened to Danny describe the lady in his dream and began to get a feeling of uneasiness combined with a tad bit of hopefulness.

"In white?" Jack asked cautiously. "Are you sure? Was it a white dress?"

"No." Danny's upper teeth raked his bottom lip mercilessly. "Maybe it wasn't a dress. Oh, yeah, it was a white light! It was bright and her face was floating."

All righty, then. This was unexpected but not necessarily a bad thing. Jack cleared his throat. "Did she talk to you?"

Danny thought hard with his mouth puckering and his eyes squinting up at the ceiling. "Yeah, but I didn't understand her."

"She spoke in another language?" Jack thought adult Daniel was frustrating enough to follow.

"Nope." Danny shook his head. "I understood the words, sort of. I just didn't understand what they meant."

"And she said what exactly?" Jack was bracing for something pretty darn shocking. He was not to be disappointed.

"She said, _release your burden._"

---

Jack had presented his evidence to those around the briefing room table and thus believed he had rested his case. Daniel had not had his memories wiped away back to a month after his tenth birthday. He had merely had them suppressed. That had to be obvious to General Hammond and Dr. Fraiser now that he had revealed that Danny had remembered Oma Desala.

"Colonel," Janet began in her let-me-explain-this-to-the-layman tone. "I understand how much you want to believe Danny is Daniel."

"Whoa, whoa wait." Jack held up a stiff index finger. "Don't tell me this means nothing."

"I didn't say that." Fraiser shook her head.

"Fine." Jack sat back in his chair. "I mean, I'm not saying I understand all this stuff, but it is possible. Right? I mean it happened to us on Oannes with the fish guy that made us think that Daniel was dead. And what about Jonah, Therra, Carlin and Tor?"

Hammond sighed deeply and turned to the doctor. O'Neill had a very good point.

"What do you think, Dr. Fraiser?" Hammond asked.

"Well, I wasn't about to discount what the colonel was implying, sir." Janet defended. "It is possible, however there is also another possibility. Oma Desala could be speaking to Daniel through his dreams. Maybe she's trying to help him through this somehow."

Jack's eyes lowered and darted back and forth at the tabletop. He hadn't thought about that angle of Danny's dream. That pretty much shed a whole new light on the subject.

"So," Jack looked up with raised eyebrows. "When are T and Carter due to check back in?"

"0130." Hammond replied. "About an hour and a half from now."

"Colonel, why don't you and Danny stay and let me take some more tests." Janet suggested.

"I don't know." Jack shook his head. "Danny's been through a lot."

"Where is he, by the way?" Janet inquired.

"Got him in a VIP room with some books." Jack smiled. "That ought to fire up those brain cells of his."

"Well, then why don't we both go and get him and take him to the infirmary?" Janet urged. "I won't put him through the ringer, I promise."

"Until Teal'c and Major Carter return, this meeting is adjourned." Hammond rose followed by the other two.

---

Danny held the book tightly in his hands. The handwriting looked a lot like his father's, but not quite. He read some of the entry but a lot of the words were too big even for him and unfamiliar at that. He had been excited when he saw the name Dr. Jackson everywhere in the room, but became confused when he further discovered it was Daniel and not Melbourne.

His old friend Abandonment crept into that room Jack had left him in and Danny had decided to peek out and see if he could find Jack. True, Jack had told Danny to wait there for him. But Jack had also told him he would be there for him at anytime.

Turning his attention to other books on the shelf he spotted a picture of a camel. He walked over and reached for it, focusing his eyes on the man atop the animal, when his concentration was broken.

"Dammit, Daniel!"

Danny whirled around in time to see Jack's raised hand come down to snatch the picture from his hand. Instinctively, Danny covered his face with his hands backing up into the corner next the shelf. As the frame released from Danny's hold it also slipped Jack's grasp and broke apart with glass shattering loudly between them.

"No-o-o!" Danny screamed.

Janet ran to Danny and tried to put her arm around him, but he twisted out of reach. Jack could only stand there watching in shock, as Danny suddenly became hysterical.

"No! Don't hit me!" Danny squealed. "Please? I'll be good, I promise!"

"Shush." Janet calmly spoke. "It's all right, Danny. Colonel O'Neill wasn't going to hurt you. Now come on with me."

Fraiser guided Danny past Jack as the man-child kept his forehead buried in the crook of one arm to keep from looking at the colonel.

"Give us about a half an hour, Colonel." Janet softly requested.

Jack looked down at the photograph covered with shards of glass. What the hell happened here? He knew he should never have grabbed at the picture, but he reacted before he thought about it. He just didn't know what seeing a picture of himself would've done to Danny. However, it was the reaction Danny had of cowering and pleading that really disturbed him.

"Jack."

The voice had been soft enough, but Jack's shoulders shuddered with a start. He turned around to see General Hammond standing in the doorway.

"Are you all right?" Hammond's tone was urgent, but his face was covered with concern.

"What was that?" Jack could only ask in response.

Glancing over his shoulder Hammond stepped inside the office and closed the door behind him.

"It's not your fault, Jack." George softly reassured the colonel.

"But you know who's it is, don't you?" Jack asked.

"I guess it's not relevant anymore." George leaned on the desk across from Jack. "When Dr. Jackson was first assigned to SG1, by your recommendation, the thorough background check revealed some disturbing incidents in his past. Not that these were of any concern at the time to the SGC, but to Daniel they were a source of great agitation."

"Like the Scotts?"

"Like the Scotts." Hammond confirmed.

"That bastard smacked Danny around, didn't he?" The colonel ground out.

Others may have surmised by the clenched jaws and slightly flared nostrils that they were due to the surly nature of Jack O'Neill. But George Hammond knew well that it was actually the gentleness of the man that evoked this display.

"One confirmed by visual evidence which is what prompted school authorities to notify social services and Danny was removed that afternoon." Hammond began. "Daniel told Dr. Fraiser and I that Mr. Scott had backhanded him and caused the bruise on his cheek that was his ticket out of that house. The undocumented incident was prior to that, Daniel told us, when Scott had slapped him with an open hand. They were standing at the top of the porch. Daniel tried to avoid the strike but lost his balance and fell down the stairs, breaking his ankle and hitting his head in the process. When he woke up in the hospital, the doctors had been told he fell off the porch playing."

"Scott locked him in a closet on nights when he had nightmares." Jack whispered, not wanting to raise the pitch of his voice for fear it would quiver.

George saw the pain in Jack's eyes as he looked up at him. Hammond had often wondered if there was anything Daniel had kept hidden. He shook his head sadly.

"I didn't know, Jack." The general turned to head toward the door. "Dr. Jackson was afraid you would coddle him if you knew that, in his words, he allowed himself to be bullied."

"For crying out loud." Jack's voice rose and indeed cracked. "He was a little boy. He had no control over what happened to him."

"Dr. Fraiser and I tried to talk to him." George continued. "But at the time, he didn't know you well enough. For that matter, neither did we. You're only interaction with him had been on the first Abydos mission. I'm sure he wouldn't mind you knowing now, Jack. It's just never come up."

"I have to go see him." Jack quickly brushed past Hammond and reached for the door.

"Remember, Jack." Hammond called out. "He's just a little boy."

Jack stopped in mid-turn of the knob and hung his head down. With a heavy sigh he nodded slightly and flew out the door.

End Part Three


	4. Part Four

Part Four-

Dodging the swinging man size shoes being propelled by an upset ten year old boy became tiring. Janet settled for standing beside Danny as he sat atop a bed in the infirmary. As she regarded the pair of glasses dangling in her hand, she stole a glance at him as he tightly hugged a pillow burying his face.

"It's all right, Danny." Fraiser said in a soothing tone. "Colonel O'Neill didn't mean to frighten you."

"He hates me." The muffled words were made harder to decipher as they hitched between sobs.

"No," Janet sighed reaching her free hand out to rub Danny's back. "He was upset, not angry. And he doesn't hate you."

"Does too."

"No, _I _don't."

The doctor looked up and saw the colonel standing in the doorway. She looked back at Danny and saw the tension in his shoulders as his feet came to a dead stop.

"Colonel?" The doctor's questioning tone was to seek whether it was a good idea to approach Danny so soon.

"We'll be fine, Doc." Jack half smiled. "Please?"

"Danny," Fraiser leaned close to his ear. "I'm going to be right outside, but I know you won't need me. I think in your heart you know the colonel is a good man."

Danny felt the woman's hand squeeze his knee briefly then heard her heeled shoes click clack away. He began to swing his feet again hoping to keep Jack at a distance.

Jack had accepted Danny's glasses from Fraiser as she past. He then approached cautiously from the side and leaned on the bed about a foot from Danny's thigh.

"I wasn't going to and would not ever strike you, Danny." Jack said. "I was trying to take the picture away from you."

"You slapped it!" Danny's voice cracked. "You didn't try to _take_ it."

Patience in relation to Daniel was never a constant. In fact, it was almost non-existent. Jack was realizing that Danny, being only a child, would take his never-ending quest for control to a new height.

"You're right." Jack conceded. "I guess I reacted without thinking because I was afraid you would get hurt."

Danny slowly lifted his head from the pillow and squinted at the colonel in confusion. "From a picture?"

Jack offered Danny his glasses which the other took rubbing his face vigorously in the pillow.

"Yes," Jack replied. "But not physically hurt, Danny. Just trust me on this. Can you do that?"

Adjusting the spectacles on his nose, Danny stopped swinging his feet. "Yes." Danny nodded. "I can do that, Jack."

Jack had to take a deep breath to ground himself in the moment. It sounded so much like the adult Daniel that Jack almost thought this had all been a cruel practical joke.

"Thank you." Jack nodded back. "And I am very sorry I scared you like that."

"Okay." Danny extended his right hand to Jack.

It was eerie how the child was so accepting and trusting. With the adult Daniel it was frustrating at times to have Jackson exhibit those traits. But with the child, it was a wonder those had not been quashed by people like Scott.

Nevertheless, he was glad Danny was not afraid of him. He could never live with that. So, with a grin as wide as General Hammond's home state of Texas Jack took the hand of his best friend and felt a firm handshake of finality.

"Now," Jack said. "Major Carter and Teal'c will be back soon from their mission. I thought that since we're here we could stick around and see them. And while we're waiting, Dr. Fraiser wanted to look you over a bit."

Jack had casually tossed his hand aside and shrugged his shoulders so as not to make a big deal to Danny. But as smart as a whip as Danny Jackson was, he saw through it.

"Why?" Danny asked. "Am I sick or something?"

"No, no." Jack reassured. "Doc just wants to make sure you're okay. You know you hit your head."

"When I passed out?" Danny asked.

The colonel felt bad lying to the boy, but this whole scenario was one big lie. How much damage could one smaller one made to protect Danny hurt?

"Yeah." Jack smiled. "So, what do you say we let her peek in your ears and flash her penlight in your eyes?"

Danny scrunched up his nose and then nodded. "As long as it won't hurt."

"I promise, kiddo."

That was all Danny needed to hear from the colonel. He trusted Jack more than he had ever trusted anyone other than his parents. He could not even explain why it was so, but it was. He knew even in the moment after Jack had raised his hand to him in that other Dr. Jackson's office that Colonel O'Neill wasn't going to hurt him. Now all he had to do was smother the scaredy-cat inside and not make Jack mad enough to send him away. He knew the man said he wouldn't, but then so had the Connors'. It was best to be agreeable, even if he was a little scared sometimes.

"Okay." Danny half smiled.

"Great." Jack reached over and patted Danny's knee. "Be right back."

"Jack?" Danny called out. When the colonel turned back he hesitated to make a request. "Can we go home after we say hi to the major and the tattooed guy?"

O'Neill held back a smile as he sensed the weariness behind the question. "Sure thing."

---

"General, they don't even know how to help their own man," Sam Carter was saying as Dr. Fraiser entered. Janet took her seat next the major across from Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill.

"Doctor?" Hammond sounded hopeful.

"Sir," Janet sighed. "There is still no physical evidence to explain why Dr. Jackson believes he is a ten year old boy. It could be like amnesia in that his memories past age ten are being suppressed."

"Possibly due to the shock from the exchange?" Teal'c wondered.

"Attempted exchange." Carter corrected then turned her attention toward the others. "The monks told us that the sharing of self, or one's self, entails them touching foreheads. They search the defining memory that in essence molded who that person became. They then take the memories from that point forward and transfer there own self into the recipient. But Daniel passed out from his extraction and the monk was unable to transfer into his mind."

"Their man is now traumatized." Teal'c noted.

"That could explain why he dreamed of Oma Desala." Janet surmised.

"Oma?" Carter's blue eyes widened.

O'Neill leaned forward in his seat and clasped his hands together on the table.

"Last night." The colonel nodded. "Scared the daylights out of him."

"What was it about?" The major pressed.

"She just stood there and then spouted her mantra of _release your burden_." Jack shook his head, taking one hand and cupping the nape of his neck. "He was so freaked by 'the lady with the floating head' that he made me stay with him until dawn." He massaged the taut muscle near his left shoulder.

"What if Oma Desala is indeed trying to communicate with DanielJackson?" Teal'c offered.

"You think she's trying to help him cope?" Carter asked.

"Perhaps she is trying to awaken his full memory." Teal'c answered.

"It's possible." Janet agreed. "She must know we're at a loss to help him."

"Their man is a virtual head case." The major shook her head. "They've never experienced anything like this. He's like a split personality."

"Well," The general spoke up. "Doctor, is there anything you can do for their man?"

"I really don't know." Fraiser's lips drooped in thought. "I suppose we could try medication as we would with one of our own patients with this type of condition. I could contact Dr. Mackenzie…"

"No way!" The colonel waved his hands in finality. "Not a good idea. He'd be all over Danny like flies to…"

"Colonel, please." Hammond broke in. "We understand the problem. But no one, and I mean no one, is going to take Danny away from you. Got that?"

O'Neill straightened his shoulders and pursed his lips in humility. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"Now," Hammond turned back toward Carter. "Major, do you think it possible that the monks would allow their man to be brought to the SGC?"

Teal'c raised his brows and cocked his head toward Carter. She saw a slight nod she took that he believed it a possibility.

"We can certainly try, sir." Sam said. "Janet, if you can get him to be in control enough to reverse this…"

"Do it." Jack barked. "Go get him."

Hammond nodded. "Be ready to go in one hour. Dismissed."

---

"Danny!"

Jack kicked aside the pile of books that he had just tripped over. He knew this was Danny's room, but it was still his house and few as they may be he had rules.

The thunderous pounding down the hall of man size feet came to an abrupt halt at the bedroom door. Jack looked up to see Danny standing with his mouth open and eyes wide.

"Sorry, Jack." Danny mumbled. "I was going to put them away, but then you called me for dinner and I didn't want to be late and then I helped you clear the dishes until you told me I could watch t.v. and there's this real neat special on the History channel, "The Mysteries of King Tut", about the ancient curse that's believed to protect the boy king's spirit …"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Jack interrupted. "Just put them back on the shelf where you found them. Please?"

"Yes, sir." Danny dove for the books and gathered them up. He quickly placed them on the shelf as he was told, even placing the bookends tightly against the stack. He slowly turned around to face the colonel but his eyes were fixed on his socks. "Guess I should go to bed, huh?"

"Why?" Jack asked. "Are you tired?"

"No." Danny shook his head while curling his toes. "I made you mad."

Realization was quick to take the colonel as he closed his eyes and sighed. "Danny, I was annoyed profusely but not mad. And every time you annoy me or even make me mad doesn't mean you have to be punished. You're a kid. Kids screw up all the time and annoy adults. It's what they do. Just part of being a kid and why we adults have to guide you in the right direction."

"If I were your real kid." Danny mumbled lifting his head slightly and raising his eyebrows to get a better look at Jack.

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked as he wrinkled his forehead in confusion.

"That guiding and teaching stuff adults do is for their real kids." Danny answered. "Not f-kids. We have to really watch ourselves and be as good as we can most of the time. If we're not we just get punished or worse."

O'Neill was sure that every realization as to just what Daniel had gone through as an orphan was shedding another year off of his life. The uncertainty of where the kid would live, with whom and for how long. It was no way to live for anyone let alone a child. There was no security for Danny after his parents died. "The worse" he spoke of was why Daniel as an adult found it hard to share his emotional pain or let anyone know just how hurt he was physically. He had kept any discomfort within himself most of his life so he wouldn't have to face "the worse" consequence.

"Sent away." Jack answered out loud.

"Yeah." Danny nodded.

"Not gonna happen, Danny." Jack assured his friend. "I guarantee you that you will leave me one day, but I will never send you away."

Danny smiled and raised his head high. As he pushed his glasses up his nose he bolted forward and rushed Jack. Not expecting the impact of a full-grown man with the energy of an excited child, Jack staggered backwards and into the dresser.

"Whoa," Jack grabbed Danny's shoulders. But his friend wrapped his arms tightly around the colonel's waist and buried his head in the side of his neck.

Danny had always been capable of being a quiet child even prior to his parents' deaths. He was not one for too many words when he was in the company of strangers or new people. Once he had observed them he became a virtual chatterbox. He would listen and learn new languages and then talk the ear off of the poor person who had taught him the foreign tongue. But sometimes words escaped him in any language. Especially when it came to conveying emotions he had lately learned to suppress. So, without a word he quickly extracted himself from his new foster father and ran out of the room.

"Geez," Jack grabbed the sides of his head. "This is one wacky situation."

End Part Four


	5. Part Five

Part Five-

The shrill ring of the phone woke him with a start. Fumbling for the receiver only resulted in it being knocked from the base and falling to the floor.

"Crap." Jack cursed as he leaned over the side of the bed. In the dim moonlight from the bedroom window he saw the phone nestled in the middle of his earlier discarded, crumpled T-shirt. "Yeah," he barked into the retrieved phone.

"_Colonel," _Sam Carter's voice quickly replied. _"Are you awake?"_

"No, Carter." O'Neill grumbled. "I sleep talk. What is it?"

"_You need to bring Danny down now."_

Glancing at the digital clock he sighed. "It's 3AM, Carter. What's going on?"

"_We were able to convince the monk to come back with us." _The major explained. _"Sir, he's here and he's lucid. It's been hard for him to hang on to dual personalities, but he's found a way. He's ready to try the transfer back."_

Like an ice cold splash of water in his face Jack bolted up to a sitting position. He was surprised at the wave of disappointment that came over him. After all, this was Daniel they were talking about. It was all about getting Daniel back.

Jack rubbed his face with his free hand and then ran it through is silver hair. Okay, so getting Daniel back meant losing Danny. Now that was something he should have been more than prepared to face.

"Okay." O'Neill's legs flopped over and planted his bare feet onto the floor. "I'll wake the Tasmanian devil up and we'll be there pronto."

"_He's a handful isn't he, sir?"_ Carter voice had an endearing tone.

"Carter," Jack replied. "You know what a bundle of energy Daniel was in the beginning? Put that into a ten year old child."

"_I get it, sir. Just hurry."_

The colonel replaced the phone then rose and headed toward the door. He stopped and then decided he had better get ready first then go and wake up Danny. If the kid were anything like the adult it would take time they didn't really have to let Danny get moving and dressed on his own.

"Damn." Jack cursed out loud. To hell with shaving Daniel's face. The first time he had done that, Danny thought it was just a fun game Jack was playing with him. The guy actually did not see his adult self in the mirror. So, he wouldn't think twice about going out without shaving. Low maintenance at least in one area. With a weary sigh Jack proceeded to the bathroom.

"Ja-ack!"

Instinctively Jack switched direction and bolted out the bedroom door and into the hall. He charged into Danny's room and stopped short at the site. Shielding his eyes from the bright light he forced himself to focus his eyes. Where the hell was he?

In the corner huddled on the floor and hugging his knees was Danny. Clad only in pajama bottoms the terrified form shivered and squinted up at the light.

"Get away from him!" Jack ordered as he crouched down and enveloped his friend in a protective hug. "It's okay, Danny. I'm here."

"She talks funny, Ja-ack." Danny managed to say before his body jerked upward as he gasped loudly.

"Now look what you've done." Jack snapped as the light began to dim and Oma Desala's human form emerged. "You gave him the hiccups."

Jack began to rub Danny's back gently as the "child" scooted closer into the embrace. Oma backed away slowly but kept her eyes on Jack.

"What?" Jack barked when he noticed the attention. "Why don't you just leave him alone? We don't need you. Danny's safe."

"Physical safety cannot take the place of comfort to the soul." Oma replied.

"Aw, come on." Jack shook his head. "As usual we don't have time for riddles. We're getting out of here and I'll do whatever I have to in order to protect Danny."

"Protecting him now will not erase the past." Oma insisted.

"What?" Jack asked in annoyance.

"Two separate souls with similar losses." Oma explained.

"See," Danny looked up at Jack. "Told you she talks funny," he reaffirmed with a hiccup punctuating his statement.

Jack O'Neill was no idiot. He did play up the fact that he was totally in the dark about science and technology. But he had learned a lot in the seven years since he had first stepped through the Stargate. Some of it being more than he cared to know about dealing with aliens and diplomacy. With that knowledge came the unnerving ability to catch on to beings like Oma Desala.

"What does any of this have to do with Char---" Jack stopped himself. He really did not want to go into this now. Oma was obviously comparing his loss of his child and Danny's loss of his parents.

"Paths crossed and the journey toward inner peace became one. Yet the two dismiss the truth." Desala continued.

"Look, Oma," Jack began. "I'm still pretty beat. It's the middle of the night and I have to be somewhere. A pretty important somewhere. Could you please just cut to the chase?"

"Danny's childhood is sealed." Oma answered. "It cannot be changed. The child of long ago became the man you know today because of the events experienced."

Jack looked down at Danny and saw two totally trusting blue eyes looking back at him. He brushed his hand through the short-cropped blond hair and received a contented smile from his friend.

"He deserves better." O'Neill softly proclaimed. "His life was taken away from him and he was just a little boy. It wasn't his fault."

"It was an accident." Oma reminded O'Neill. "A chain of events with many involved."

"Yeah," O'Neill agreed.

"Similar losses." Oma repeated.

"What are you getting at?" O'Neill asked.

"Replace Danny with Charlie and the words hold true still." Oma Desala replied.

"Oh, I know where the fault lay there." Jack answered as he rose and pulled Danny along with him.

"The young one made a decision." Oma said. "The result of his actions was not the intent, but a consequence."

"I never should've left it loaded!" O'Neill now raised his voice causing Danny to jump.

"A chain of events." Desala replied. "No one single fault results in an end."

"Look, I'm really not in the mood for this." The colonel was tired and no matter how much this ancient tried to convince him he was not at fault in Charlie's death he would never believe it. "We've got to go. Just finish up with the two dismissing the truth part."

"Loss, comfort, friendship, love." Oma Desala replied. "The shame is not in the want or need, but in the denial."

"Jack." Danny sighed as he tugged on the colonel's arm. "I'm sleepy."

"Not now, Danny." Jack hushed as he patted the hand on his arm. "We have to get dressed and go see Major Carter, Teal'c and lots of other people."

"Why?" Danny asked as he let out a big yawn.

"Look, Oma I don't know what you want." Jack rubbed his hand through his hair. "What's being denied here is getting Danny to the SGC. Can't you just spell out what fount of wisdom's you possess and let us get the hell out of here?"

"One lost his parents." Oma began. "One lost his son. The comfort in each other's presence is the foundation on which a relationship was built. Friendship flourishes in the walls of that relationship. Love that has no acknowledgment cannot scale the walls."

Jack looked at Danny and back at Oma Desala. So that's what this was about. It was the fact that he and Daniel never talk about their feelings for one another.

"We don't need to acknowledge, as you put it." Jack defended. "We know."

"Words can be a warm blanket to a soul that knows only the cold." Oma countered. "Even on his deathbed all you could manage to say was that you admired him."

Go for the jugular. A low blow. "He understood." Jack's jaw set and tightened vying for control. "It's who I am. I can't change that."

"It's who you _want_ to be." Oma disagreed. "Protection for the heart in case of loss."

"I don't have to justify myself to you." Jack decided. "Danny go get dressed."

"Whose deathbed, Jack?" Danny asked.

"I said, go get dressed." The colonel ordered.

"But, Jack I want to know who she is and why she's here." Danny whined.

"I won't tell you again." Jack firmly said.

Danny glared back at Jack. So what was he going to do if Danny didn't go get dressed? Was he going to haul off and pop him? That would be consistent with some of the foster homes he had been in. But, not Jack.

"No!" Danny yelled. "Lady, you talk like I'm not here. Why?"

"You are not where you should be." Oma told him.

"Leave him alone." Jack warned.

"I don't belong anywhere, do I?" Danny asked her. "You're saying I only belonged with my parents. That now I'm just nothing to nobody! I know that, lady! You don't have to tell me! Jack just feels sorry for me. Or maybe it's just that he feels sorry for himself! Okay, so what? I'll take that! I don't need anyone to care about _me_! As long as he doesn't yell at me and hit me all the time…"

The seasoned Special Ops officer stared helplessly as the child inside the body of his best friend crumpled to the floor sobbing. Danny hadn't bought his concern and caring one bit. All he did was accept the fact that Jack wasn't Mr. Scott or who knows who else in his past that hurt him because he was an unusual child. No, not unusual, special.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jack directed at Desala. "This is helping how?" Kneeling down and placing and arm around Danny's shoulder, Jack leaned in and placed his lips against the other's forehead. "I care about you, Danny. No matter how much I say it, I know it's hard for you to believe. But it's true. I care what happens to you."

"Why?" Danny choked out.

"Because." Jack looked up at Oma, who now was returning to just a face amidst light tendrils. "Because I love you."

Danny turned and wrapped his arms around Jack's neck tightly. As his tearing eyes bulged from the enormous pressure Jack saw Oma Desala smile. She was definitely pleased with herself on this one.

"So, what?" Jack whispered to the ascended being. "Was this for me or for him?"

Oma Desala just gazed back at the two men.

"Yeah, okay." Jack nodded. "But he's a child."

As the light swirled around the room and exited up through the ceiling Jack knew this was not over. It was easier to say that to a little boy, but to a grown man?

"Come on, buddy." Jack patted Danny's back. "We have to get a move on."

End Part Five


	6. Part Six

Part Six-

Jack tugged harder on Danny's hand as they walked quickly across the parking lot.

"Come on, big guy." Jack urged. "I know you're not fully awake yet, but pick up your feet. I certainly can't carry you."

"I'm not a baby." Danny grumbled. "I can walk just fine, thank you."

"Sorry." Jack apologized while giving the man-sized hand another tug.

Once inside the SGC they made their way toward the infirmary.

"Where are we going?" Danny stopped short pulling on Jack's hand.

"This way." Jack cocked his head.

"The infirmary?" Danny asked uneasy.

"Yeah." Jack pulled gently on his friend's arm. "Come on."

"Why?" Danny stood firm in his place.

" Because that's where everyone's waiting for us." Jack narrowed his eyes. "Danny, just trust me."

"I do, Jack." Danny said. "But I don't like hospitals."

"They scare you do they?" Jack asked sympathetically.

"I'm not a baby." Danny raised his voice.

The halls were empty due to the late or early enough hours but Jack looked around all the same.

"Sorry."

"S'okay." Danny said. "Does this have to do with those blackouts I had?"

"Blackouts?" Jack frowned back at Danny.

"You know." Danny replied. "When I fell down the stairs at the Scotts' that's what they told me I had. And then when I woke up here and didn't remember anything."

"Oh," Jack realized. He sighed wondering just how many lies he would have to tell the kid before this was over. But it was for Danny's own good and benefit, after all. Besides, part of it was true. "Yeah, that's it. That's exactly it, kiddo."

"So is it going to hurt?" Danny's eyes were now wide-awake.

"I don't think so." Jack was telling the truth. He didn't know. "But I'll be right there with you the whole time."

Danny curled his fingers around Jack's hand tighter and gave a broad smile. It was closed mouthed, no teeth, but Jack knew now he never should have questioned Danny's trust.

"Come on." Jack started off down the corridor. "And after this is all over, I'll get you some hot chocolate."

"With marshmallows?" Danny replied, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet.

"Yeah-sure-ya betcha."

As Jack led him into the room, Danny looked around curiously. This was not the infirmary he had been in before. This room had a bed and hospital equipment, but there were no other beds. There was a window up a ways on a far wall and he could see General Hammond and Teal'c standing behind the glass. He waved at them and the general smiled down at him waving back while Teal'c just nodded his head.

Major Carter was standing next to the bed with Doctor Fraiser and some man in a robe with a hood over his head. The man stood there with his head bowed and his hands tucked into the large sleeves of his robe.

"Hi, Danny." Carter greeted.

"Hi." Danny shyly answered back.

"Dr. Fraiser and I would like you to lie down on the bed." Carter told him.

Janet fluffed up the pillow and smiled at Danny. Jack tugged on his hand and then offered it to the major who took it gently. She guided Danny over to the bed and he eyed the monk.

"Who's he?" Danny asked.

"He's the one that's going to help us with these tests." The doctor answered.

"For my blackouts." Danny replied.

Janet looked to the colonel who just pursed his lips and cocked his head to the side. She nodded and looked back at Danny.

"Actually, yes. Well, shall we get started?" Janet patted the bed.

Danny hopped up on the bed looking over at Jack who smiled and winked at him. The monk moved to the side of the bed as Danny slid his head onto the pillow. Janet held out some contacts and explained to Danny that they would help them see how he was doing.

"But you have to do something, too." Sam told Danny as she moved to remove his glasses. "You have to close your eyes and keep them closed no matter what you may feel you want to do. Think of something else, something pleasant. Can you do that?"

"Yes." Danny nodded. "I'll think of the marshmallows, Jack."

Trying to suppress a laugh Jack nodded. "You do that, Danny-boy."

"Now, Major Carter?" Danny asked.

"Yes, Danny." Carter answered as she watched Janet fiddle with the knobs on the machine.

Jack felt finality when he saw Danny close his eyes. It was actually an odd sense of loss. He wanted Daniel back, but he had to admit he would miss Danny even only having known him for this short time.

The monk slowly revealed his hands as he reached up to remove his hood. He placed his hands on Danny's cheeks to hold him still as he bent down and lightly pressed their foreheads together. Danny jerked, but did not open his eyes.

"Jack?" Danny called out in an oh-so-small voice.

"Shh," Jack soothed. "It's okay, Danny. Just relax. Marshmallows, remember?"

"The little, tiny ones." Danny whispered as he swallowed hard trying to be brave even though he was a little scared.

The monk smelled like the inside of his parents' old suitcase. The one that held all of their pictures he had been given before he was sent to the group home. His grandpa, Nick, had taken the suitcase when he came to the home to sign papers that he didn't want Danny. But he must not think of that now. Marshmallows. Tiny pillows floating on a sea of chocolate surrounded by rainbow bubbles.

Suddenly Danny's hands flew up and grabbed the monk's arms. But just as quickly they dropped down onto the bed as his body went rigid and still. Janet fiddled with knobs and watched monitors while the monk let go of Jackson and straightened.

"What?" Jack asked impatiently.

The monk simply released Danny, replaced his hood, slid his hands into his sleeves and turned to walk out of the room. Carter quickly followed the monk as Fraiser whipped out her penlight and began to examine Danny.

Unnoticed, Teal'c had left the observation room to accompany Carter to the gateroom to see the monk on his way. Hammond remained watching the room below.

Jack watched as Danny's body twitched and his eyes began to flutter open. Janet straightened up and began to pull off the contacts from Danny's forehead.

"Jack."

Immediately Jack was at the side of the bed. "I'm here."

"How do you feel?" Dr. Fraiser asked.

"Headache."

"Do you know who we are?" Fraiser asked.

"Dr. Janet Fraiser and Colonel Jack O'Neill."

"And you are?" Jack asked expectantly.

"Dr. Daniel Jackson." He replied.

"And do you remember what happened?" Janet questioned.

"I was going to exchange the knowledge of self with a monk on P4X558." Daniel remembered. "He grabbed my face and pulled me down so our foreheads were touching. Then I woke up here."

"All right, then." Janet moved off to the side. "Let me get out of your way and you sit up when you're ready. I'll be back shortly."

General Hammond heaved a sigh of relief. "Good to have you back, Dr. Jackson."

Daniel looked up and waved at the general, who smiled broadly in return. Jack watched him disappear from the observation room and then they were alone. He looked back at Daniel, who was staring at him intently.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Just thinking." Daniel answered.

"About?" Jack prompted.

"Strange stuff." Daniel rubbed his forehead. "Must've been dreaming while I was out cold. Jumbled memories."

"Really." Jack replied.

"Yeah." Daniel nodded. "Oma Desala was in it, only I was a kid. But I was at your house, I think."

"Look, Daniel." Jack interrupted, as he was becoming uncomfortable at this revelation. "Maybe you shouldn't be straining your brain right now. Just relax."

"Well," Janet said as she entered the room. "I want to run some tests on you, but they can wait until tomorrow. You don't have to stay here, Daniel. But I'd prefer you weren't alone."

"He can crash at my place." Jack offered.

Daniel began to push up and Jack helped him into a sitting position. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed the back of his neck. A shiver throughout his body had Fraiser rubbing his arm.

"You cold?" The doctor asked.

"Kinda." Daniel admitted. "Can I get something hot to drink?"

"No coffee, Daniel." Fraiser ordered. "You need rest and that will only keep you up."

Jack was staring at Daniel as the latter watched the doctor leave the room again.

"What?" Now it was Daniel's turn to ask.

"No coffee, the Doc said." Jack shrugged.

"Yeah, I know." Daniel racked his teeth over his bottom lip. "That's really weird."

"Not really." Jack answered. "Caffeine would only keep you up…"

"I wasn't thinking of coffee." Daniel looked up at Jack now with searching eyes.

---

The ride home had been disturbingly silent. The proverbial other shoe was dangling in the air threatening to drop not in finality, but resurgence.

Daniel sat at the kitchen table expecting to be waited on. Jack leaned against the counter watching his friend. Come on, Daniel. Just say it.

"Hot chocolate." Daniel blurted out as he watched his clasped hands before him.

Finally. "With marshmallows." Jack added knowingly.

"The tiny ones." Daniel finished as he looked up at Jack with watery eyes.

"How much?" Jack now asked gently.

"Oh," Daniel sighed shakily. "Fragments really. Bits and pieces."

Jack smiled now, realizing that Oma Desala had known all along that Daniel would remember. Maybe not all at once, but he would.

"So you were underneath there." Jack sighed. "Somewhere down deep."

"Yeah." Daniel returned his gaze to his hands and began tracing the lines on the palms. "Well, this is weird."

"I'll say." Jack turned around and got out two mugs from the cupboard.

Daniel jumped up and went to the refrigerator. He got out the carton of milk giving the expiration date a careful glance. Not exactly well past the due date, so he opened up the carton and sniffed the contents. Considering it non-lethal, Daniel handed the milk to Jack who was awaiting his decision.

Jack poured the milk into the small pot on the stove. Once he had adjusted the burner he looked over at Daniel who stared down at the blue flames.

"Penny." Jack said.

Daniel let out nervous laugh. "No," he shook his head. "No you don't."

Jack frowned as he watched Daniel return to sit at the table. Jittery hands removed glasses that gave a rat-a-tat noise as they were put down. Rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands and then resting his elbows on the table Daniel withdrew.

Checking the milk temperature with his pinkie Jack found it unacceptable. Licking his finger he took the two mugs to the table. Pulling out a chair he sat across from Daniel.

"Yes, Daniel." Jack replied. "I do."

Without looking up Daniel conversed. "Come on, Jack. This is screwed and you know it."

"Not eloquently put for a linguist." Jack admonished.

"What the hell was that?" Daniel asked. "I mean, what the hell was Oma Desala trying to do?"

"Remember all of that, do you?" Jack felt a lump in the pit of his stomach.

"Now, yeah." Daniel shook his head. "Why can't people just leave me alone?"

"I don't know that Oma constitutes as people." Jack theorized.

Daniel dropped his head into the crook of his arm resting on the table. "Jack, please? Just stick to the issue at hand."

"Sorry." Jack suddenly remembered the milk and bolted up. He turned off the burner and then picked up the pot. Taking a spoon out of the drawer, he skimmed off the skin that had formed atop the milk and plopped the spoon in the sink. Grabbing two cocoa packets and a clean spoon he returned to the table.

Daniel heard Jack ripping open the packets and then pouring the milk into the mugs. When the clinking of the spoon in the mugs came to an end, he knew he couldn't hide any longer.

Jack watched Daniel raise his head and reach for one of the mugs. It did not go unnoticed that Daniel did not replace his glasses on his face.

"Where are the marshmallows?" Daniel asked peering into the mug.

"Sorry." Jack repeated.

"You'd have lied to a kid?" Daniel asked in disbelief as he now fixed an accusatory look at Jack.

"No." Jack answered. "If the kid had still been here I would've stopped at the market."

"Oh." Daniel nodded. "Okay."

They blew and sipped for a few minutes. Neither one knew exactly what the other was thinking, but they knew they had to talk about it.

"She's a pompous ass…"

"Jack." Daniel warned.

"As-cended being." Jack recovered. "She knew what she was doing."

"Always does." Daniel agreed. "I know you're probably really ticked off at me for not trusting you."

"On which count?" Jack wondered.

"My past." Daniel answered. "The foster parents' stuff."

"No." Jack shook his head. "Well, maybe a little. I mean after you got to know me and all."

"I really pushed a lot of that in the back of my mind, Jack." Daniel explained. "Not stuff I wanted to remember. I wasn't trying to keep it from you. Well, any longer, that is."

"I can understand that." Jack agreed. "So, do you think she was right about all of it?"

Daniel shrugged and took another sip. "I don't know, maybe. It makes sense, but I swear I was never looking for a surrogate parent."

"I know." Jack reassured. "I was never looking for a surrogate kid, either."

No, neither one had been looking for the surrogate. But that's exactly what they got. And both of them had fallen into the roles fairly easily.

"Damn." Jack finally said.

"Yeah." Daniel nodded, looking away quickly. "This is so creepy."

"No." Jack shook his head. "I don't think so. A little warped maybe, but not creepy."

"Think we need therapy?" Daniel asked solemnly.

"Oh, without a doubt for a number of reasons." Jack admitted. "But you know how I feel about that. But for this? Naw."

"So, is it bad?" Daniel asked. "I mean, you're my best friend. Jack, I never had a best friend until you. Don't best friends take care of each other? Look out for each other?"

"Of course." Jack agreed. "That's what we do. I think we both needed someone to fill the gaps. Me without Sara or Charlie and you without Sha're or your parents. It's not weird, Daniel. It's cool."

"Oma thought it was okay." Daniel stated. "She's always right. So, we're okay aren't we?"

"Yeah," Jack nodded. "We're okay. We always have been, even when we tick each other off. And I guess we always will be."

Daniel smiled at him now. "Any kid would've been lucky to have you for a parent, Jack. I always thought that. But now, you know. I really know it."

Jack smiled back thoughtfully. "And any parent should've known they were lucky to have you to be responsible for. I guess some of them were just too dense to realize it and take care of you the way you should've been. The way you needed to be."

Daniel lowered his head. "I didn't make it easy for them."

"Ah!" Jack scolded. "You had every right to be difficult, Daniel. It was the adults who needed to be open and willing. Don't make excuses. They don't deserve to be let off the hook."

Daniel let out a ragged sigh. "Since I lost my parents, it's been hard to say it. Those three little words never came very easy after they died. I know I lost Sarah because of that. And Sha're used to say it was all right that I didn't say it all that much." He let out a tired laugh. "Rarely, actually. It was almost like if I said it out loud they'd go away. But they did anyway, huh?"

"Live and learn, Danny-boy." Jack offered. "That's what it's all about. Take the good times and the crappy times and make something of a life because of or in spite of."

"I really wish I would've met someone like you back then." Daniel mused.  
"I missed out on a lot. I know that. Kid stuff, birthday parties, holidays and just feeling safe and protected. Would've been nice."

"Isn't it?" Jack asked with a smirk.

"Yeah," Daniel smiled. He had never known all of those things until he met Jack. And his SGC family made holiday and birthday memories for him now that he held dear. So he can make up for lost time. "It is."

"Drink up." Jack held up his mug. "Then you head to your room and get that rest Fraiser ordered."

"My room." Daniel repeated.

"As long as I have a roof over my head, Daniel." Jack informed him. "Know what I mean?"

"Yes." Daniel held up his mug and they clanked them together. "To friendship."

"Yeahsureyabetcha!"

THE END


End file.
